BANGOR, Maine — As city public works crews worked Monday night into Tuesday morning to clean up several inches of snow that fell over the weekend, city police officers were required to have removed, at the owners’ expense, at least five cars that were interfering in that process.

A city emergency dispatcher said Tuesday that the towed vehicles had been parked in the “Tree Streets” section of the city.

The dispatcher said that while police logs showed that five vehicles were hauled off to the impound lot on Perkins Street, the actual number could have been higher.

With the season’s first major snowstorm set to hit today, motorists are reminded to pay attention to the city’s winter parking rules, which are in force Nov. 1 though March 31 of each year.

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Night parking, odd and even parking violations and parking in places that block snow removal efforts are the three major issues concerning parking on Bangor streets. Motorists should heed the rules as violations could result in $40 fines and possibly towing, which can cost as much as $85.

Downtown parking rules allow parking on designated downtown area streets, with the exceptions of when large snowstorms are forecast and on planned snow removal nights, so as not to hinder plowing. In those cases, the city provides advance notice through media outlets, local access channels and other sources.

With regard to the rest of the city, on-street parking is prohibited from midnight to 6 a.m. daily.

During the daytime, alternate, or odd-even, parking rules apply. Parking is allowed on only one side of the street. On the odd-numbered days of the month, parking is allowed on the side of the street with odd-numbered houses, vice versa for even-numbered days. This requirement does not apply to streets where one side is posted to prohibit parking or where parking is restricted by time limits.

For more information, call the Police Department’s Parking Division at 947-7382.